Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’s address at the dedication of Four Refurbished Heritage Buildings in Kolkata, to the Nation
Ladies and gentlemen,
This atmosphere of Kolkata filled with the wave and excitement of culture and literature, fills the heart and mind with joy. In a way, it is an opportunity for me to rejuvenate myself and to recognize and salute the magnificent art and culture of Bengal. Friends, after coming here and watching the cultural programme a short while ago, many old memories of my youth days have started coming back. I had several questions about life, the mysteries of life and its complications; like every youngster has in mind, I used to have such questions too. There was a keen desire to know a lot. There were many questions, and there were so many answers. It was very difficult to find some answers as well. So, we were in search for the answers, to solve those questions and for clarity. And then at that age, this land of Kolkata, this sacred soil of Belur Math used to attract me.
Today, in your presence, as I was seeing all these things, the mind was filled with those emotions again. And while watching this programme, it felt as if I was reliving those moments lived by those great painters and artists. This is my opportunity to salute this wonderful power of Bengal soil and the enchanting smell of Bengal. I also pay tribute to all the people of past and present associated with it.
Friends,
Today is a very important day, a very big day in the field of art, culture and literature of India including West Bengal. The nationwide campaign to preserve India's art, culture and heritage according to the 21st century and to Reinvent, Rebrand, Renovate and Re-house them is beginning from the soil of West Bengal today. West Bengal in general and Kolkata in particular are largely going to benefit from this campaign. I congratulate all the friends associated with the art and culture of West Bengal, and the people of Bengal who are devoted to art and culture.
Friends,
Tradition and tourism are two subjects which are directly connected to our identity, heritage and our emotions. It is the effort of the Central Government to put the cultural potential of India in a new perspective in front of the world, so that India can emerge as a major centre of heritage tourism in the world. Heritage tourism will play a major role in strengthening the tourism industry of the entire country including West Bengal. This will also create many employment opportunities in the entire country including West Bengal. To make the Rabindra Setu-Howrah Bridge more attractive to tourists an interactive light and sound facility is also going to be started after this programme.
Friends,
It has always been the desire of the country to preserve and modernize its cultural symbols. In line with this sentiment, the central government is renovating and refurbishing the historic buildings of the country. It is being started from the heritage of Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Varanasi. In these buildings, necessary infrastructure is being prepared for new galleries, new exhibitions, theatre, drama and music concerts. It has also been decided that 5 Iconic Museums in the country will be set up according to International Standards. It is being started from the Indian Museum Kolkata, one of the oldest museums in the world. Apart from this, the museums in Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Srinagar are also being upgraded. Friends, not only is it necessary to cherish and beautify these heritages of the country, resources necessary for their maintenance and management will also have to be developed. In view of this, the construction of 'Indian Institute of Heritage Conservation' and conferring it with the status of a deemed university is being considered.
Friends,
Kolkata has been one of the richest cultural centres in India. According to your feelings, efforts are now being made to bring this rich identity of Kolkata to the world in a new form. The renovation work of 4 Iconic Galleries of Kolkata: Old Currency Building, Belvedere House, Victoria Memorial and Metcalfe House have been completed. The idea of making Belvedere the Museum of the World has come up many times. Now our efforts are on the same side. There is also an idea to develop the Indian government's mint as a Museum of Coinage & Commerce.
Friends,
It is not good to have 2 of the 5 galleries of the Victoria Memorial closed for a long time. There have been efforts to open them for some time. I will also urge you to give a place to Bengal's revolutionary contribution made during the freedom movement in the third gallery.
Museums with the name 'Biplabi Bharat' came up, in which Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Aurobindo Ghosh, Ras Bihari Bose, Khudi Ram Bose, Deshbandhu, Bagha Jatin, Binoy, Badal, Dinesh, every such great freedom fighter found a place. Friends, we all know very well what had happened in the decades after independence and the feelings in the minds of the people towards Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Respecting the same feeling of the country, a museum was built in the Red Fort named after Netaji, and an island was named after Netaji in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. On the completion of 75 years of Azad Hind Government, I got the privilege of hoisting flag at Red Fort. There has been a demand to declassify the files related to Netaji, which has now been fulfilled.
Friends,
In the New Year, in the new decade, now the country feels that the contribution of other sons of West Bengal should also be respected. Right now we are all celebrating the 200th birth anniversary of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar. Similarly, there will be another crucial coincidence when India will celebrate 75 years of independence in 2022. The year 2022 will also mark the 250th birth anniversary of the great social reformer and educationist Raja Rammohan Roy. In order to arouse the confidence of the country, it is necessary to carry forward his legacy of trying to contribute for the dignity of daughters, sisters, youth in the society. Let us celebrate his 250th birth anniversary as a festival. It is the duty of all of us.
Friends,
Preservation of the heritage of the country, this depiction of our great personalities and our history is a major part of nation building. It was very unfortunate that some important aspects of history were ignored while writing the history of the country during the British rule and even after independence.
Friends, I want to mention what Gurudev Tagore wrote in one of his articles in 1903 on this holy land of Bengal. He wrote- "History of India is not what we read and remember for examinations. Some people came from outside; father killing son, brother killing brother; struggle for throne etc. is not the history of India. There is no description in this history what the citizens of India, the people of India doing back then? Did they not exist at all?”
Friends,
Gurudev had also given a very important example in his article about turmoil and upheaval. He wrote that "no matter how many upheavals came, it is more important how the people there faced that in times of crisis back then".
Friends,
Gurudev had pointed out that historians saw the turmoil from outside the house. The historians didn't go to the houses of those who were dealing with the upheavals. Now, one who sees from outside can only looks at the turmoil! The historians could not see how the society, the common man had fought against it. In such a situation, many important facts of the history of India were left behind.
Friends,
If we look at the history and heritage of our country, then some people confined it to the struggle for power, violence and succession. But in the midst of all this, as Gurudev had also said, another aspect of history is very important. Today I want to discuss it with you as well.
Friends,
In that era of instability, in an atmosphere of violence, it was important to face it in order to keep the nation’s conscience awake; to handle it and to carry it to the next generations. Decade by decade, generation after generation, century after century, who did that work? Our art, our literature, our music, our intellectuals, our saints and our philosophers did that work. And so, in every corner of India, you will find special traditions related to different types of art and music. In every region of India, you will see the influence of intellectuals and saints. These individuals, their ideas, different forms of art and literature, have enriched history in their own way. And you all know very well that such great personalities led some of the biggest social reforms in the history of India. India received the blessings of poet saints like Adi Shankara, Thirunavukkarasara. The path shown by Andal, Akka Mahadevi, Lord Basaveshwara, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, still inspires us today. When Bhakti movement started in different parts of India, songs and ideas of many saints and reformers in that period had enriched it. Sant Kabir, Tulsidas ji, Eknath ji, Namdev ji, Sant Tukaram ji kept awakening the society. There was no corner of India where such great men did not exist in that period. Raja Rammohan Roy ji and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar ji's efforts for social change are equally inspiring today. Similarly, we see Jyotiba Phule, Savitribai Phule, Gandhiji, Baba Saheb Ambedkar and many such personalities enriching the history of India.
Social reform, raising voice against the evils of the society, work on women empowerment were the efforts to keep the nation's conscience awake in those times. And all the names that I have taken, though I could not take many other names, but these people had made literature, art and music as the medium of their messages. This is the power of art-music-literature. They have created history not with the power of arms, but by bringing about a change through manpower. They have shown the power of scripture in front of the weapon.
Friends,
The soul of any land represents the feelings of the people there. What is said through song, music, art and literature are the same public sentiment! Political and military power is temporary, but the public sentiment expressed through art and culture is permanent. And so, preserving our rich history, preserving our heritage and promoting them are very important for India, for every Indian. This is the kind of wealth that sets us apart from other countries of the world.
Friends,
Dr. Shyamaprasad Mukherjee had said about protecting the culture- “We are not troubled that the doors of Western knowledge are open to us. The problem is that this knowledge was imposed on us, compromising with Indian culture. The need was to strike a balance between the two in which Indian culture should not be ignored, it should not be abolished". This idea of Dr. Mukherjee was also important at that time and is relevant even today. We can get to learn something from every culture of the world, but it has to be kept in mind that it should not be at the cost of the values of Indian culture.
Friends,
Sons and saints born and raised in the land of Bengal have always understood the importance of India's rich cultural heritage, giving it an intellectual leadership. Even though only one moon shines in the sky, West Bengal has given many moons to show the glow of India to the world. Netaji Subhas Chandra, Sharat Chandra, Bankim Chandra, Ishwar Chandra, Jagadish Chandra, Keshav Chandra, Bipin Chandra, many such Chandras have illuminated the identity of India.
From Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Swami Vivekananda and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore ji, all have worked to awaken the whole world and the whole of India. All these great men told the whole world what India really is and what its real strength is. They also made India realize that our real capital is our culture and our knowledge of the past. Poems by Nazrul Islam and Lalan Fakir and films by Satyajit Ray have also expanded this thinking.
Friends,
You all have the responsibility of keeping the tradition alive in New India, which is done by the soil of Bengal, to familiarize the country and the world with the knowledge and ancient identity of India. This is the right time to create new and competent leadership in every field from here, who can represent India in the whole world. We all have to remember the words of Swami Vivekananda, which he said while interacting with some people at the University of Michigan.
Swami Vivekananda had said - "Even though the present century is yours, but the 21st century will be of India". To prove that resolve of Swami Vivekananda, all of us, every countryman should work continuously with full strength. And in this campaign, when the energy and blessings of you all friends, the intellectual class of West Bengal will be there, then the pace of fulfilling the resolutions will increase further. I myself and the Central Government will also try to stand with you at every step, will stand with your every effort, and will also try to learn from you. I express my heartfelt gratitude to you for the warmth with which you have given me an opportunity to come and talk to you on this important occasion today. I will also urge the countrymen to visit these four Iconic places when you come to Kolkata. You should see, contemplate, express and place before the world the ideas of our great men, their art, their feelings and the expressions of the people of that time. Thanks a lot!